Reviews

Rade Siljan: “Visual Eloquences” by Lili Boshevska  ̶  an original literary and visual art project

Rade Siljan is a Macedonian poet, writer and publisher, Member of the Macedonian Writers Association

 “Visual Eloquences” is an original literary and visual art project – each poem in the book is in dialogue with a work of visual art by prominent artists from Macedonia and around the world. By that, Boshevska’s latest work ranks among those that, within the Macedonian cultural landscape, explicitly foster a dialogue between poetry and other, non-literary forms of artistic expression, demonstrating that works from different art forms can complement one another, thereby shaping the broader picture of the creator’s messages and world.”

“In art, as in love, one can give only what one possesses.” This thought by Władysław Strzemiński (1893–1952) stands out as the guiding motto of Boshevska’s book—a fact confirmed by the thematic and motivic preoccupations evident in the poems, which are organized into eight cycles. Beyond the multimedia dimension achieved through a dialogue with the visual arts, the poetry in this collection is characterized by strong intertextual—and above all, hypertextual—connections to philosophy and literary history (particularly mythology) in the quest for answers to fundamental questions regarding human existence.

In short, beyond the concept and internal architecture that distinguish it as a thoughtfully conceived, cohesive whole—rather than merely a collection of poems—”Visual Eloquences” also stands out for the authenticity of Boshevska’s style, which presents her as a poet-polymath and a reflective thinker. It is worth noting that the majority of the visual artworks engaging in a dialogue with Boshevska’s poems are of recent origin; the book constructs a synthesis of the archaic (mythological)—linked to the intertextual connections within the verses—the collective, the individual, and the contemporary, ultimately leading to the conclusion that Boshevska seeks and succeeds in finding poetic answers to timeless questions concerning the human being, the creator, and the artist in general.

Milica Dimitrievska Radevska: “Confessions and Ecstasies” – a meaningful and purposeful spiritual journey by Lili Boshevska.

Milica Dimitrievska Radevska is a poet, writer and literary critic, Member of the Macedonian Writers Association

The spiritual journey of every artist—including the poet—is meaningful and purposeful. On this path of self-discovery—finding oneself within oneself and in the eyes of the other—the poet possesses a unique matrix: the alchemy of the word. As poet Lili Boshevska sings in the opening poem “Discoverer” from her collection *Confessions and Ecstasies*: “I yearned for you to find me through the engrams of a collective memory.” This phrase—”collective memory”—implies a need for everything we create to serve as a qualitative and quantitative center, acting as the pivot and the driving force of time viewed as an absolute category. In this collection, across forty poems, a series of lexemes—flight, emptiness, light, illusion, loves, erosion, withering, doubt, a dried-up sea, a galley, metamorphoses, red, a hut, a rock, a volcano, early fruit, Cassiopeia—parade like a form of autosuggestion. This gathering of nascent thoughts consists of the “eroded magnitudes of the spoken word…”

Undoubtedly, she is more secure here, more open in expressing the subtlest feelings—felt as white-hot passions. In most of the poems, she draws a parallel between the woman she once was and the woman she is now, between the moment of non-being and the hour of Eros shrouded in darkness. She moves from kiss to hunger, and from hunger to fasting—yet the poetess is resolute in her choices: “I do not choose to fast / I want to hunger for you / quench me with your outpourings / with your very being, feed me.” In doing so, she reveals herself not merely as a beloved woman, but also as an inspiration for experiencing Eros as an undiscovered island of carnal love. In the verses of the poem “I Am a Galley Slave on a Dried-Up Sea,” an impression from a forgotten medieval tale about a lady and the knight of her heart seems, at first glance, to be mirrored. Yet, a real-life story about our journeys across land and dry terrain unfolds here on multiple levels. Both paths harbor dangers—underwater reefs, deserts, and oases—and for a moment, life appears to us like a mirage; “for even the wrong direction holds no meaning here, since, when a galley sails across a desert, everything becomes inconsequential and has no bearing on its immobility.”

When it comes to love, the poet Lili Boshevska most explicitly shapes it through the color red—a hue that, from a psychological or artistic perspective, can symbolize sacrifice, resilience, passion, and energy. Combined with the name “Cassiopeia,” these poems underscore an inner urge to cast aside the conscious mind and surrender to the fire of love; even if, at first glance, this manifests as arrogance and defiance—a disregard for conventions and a conservative environment—”life returns to the beginning / into nebulae, into mists—into star clusters / everything is the same, everything follows the same pattern / from star to star I shall find a different face / in every person / I shall find a part of myself.”

If things aren’t quite as they are, if we haven’t found what we were seeking—is that cause for sorrow? No! In the outpouring of emotion, we remain true to ourselves—we are who we are, just as we are. And love? It is the driving force behind everything: the burning fire within us, the visible things that weigh upon our souls, every step we take, and every thought we harbor for today and tomorrow.

This poetry collection includes several poems—among them “How Long It Will Last” (Kolku ke trae)—that reveal a different phase of life; the piece breathes with a purely confessional tone and poses a rhetorical question, as the poet highlights the autoimmune disease that tears at the very fabric of our existence. In the same vein, the poems “You Cannot” (Ne mozhete), “Time Will Tell” (Ke pokazhe vremeto), and “Silence” (Molchenje) elaborate on her insights regarding her perception of what confronts her, as well as her own self within that experience. Thus, in the poem “Metamorphosis 2” (Metamorfoza 2), she declares: “I am no longer today / I am transforming into tomorrow.” The author of these lines observes that these poems constitute a distinct poetic outpouring, as they encompass—in terms of meaning and motifs—another facet of the multiple creative interests of the author, Lili Boshevska.

Trajche Katsarov: “Confessions and Ecstasies” – The Altar of Love

Trajche Katsarov is Macedonian poet, writer, essayist, and playwright, Member of the Macedonian Writers Association

Friedrich Schlegel begins his book “Dialogue on Poetry” as follows: “Poetry brings together and unites in an unbreakable bond all souls that love it. Although they seek vastly different things in their lives—some utterly despising what is sacred to others—and despite remaining unnoticed by one another, forever strangers, in this sphere they are nonetheless united and calmed by a higher, imaginative power. One muse seeks another, and all the streams of poetry flow into the great, shared sea.”

If we view poetry as one of human desires—and every desire, as the renowned film director Andrei Konchalovsky would say, is a yearning for life—then poetry is loved only by those who harbor many desires, all of which combine to form a singular, shared yearning for life. Yet, we must also acknowledge that desires and the yearning for life stem from our emotions—from the memory of them. The more intense these emotions are, the greater the desire and the more inexhaustible the yearning; or, to put it another way, the more souls there are bound together in an unbreakable connection, as Schlegel would say.

The sea of ​​poetry, says Schlegel, is formed by its tributaries. And these tributaries are people’s desires—their yearning for life. People harbor a wide variety of desires, yet the yearning for life levels them out, uniting them within the magical power of all that is beautiful, strong, and steadfast in existence.

If we liken the beautiful to a sea, then human desires and yearnings transform people into the streams that fill it—streams that keep it from running dry and render it forever alluring.

Speaking of Boshevska’s poetry—to borrow a phrase from Konchalovsky—we can define it, or rather clarify its contribution to the vast ocean of poetry, in just a few words or a single sentence. Her poetry can be named and characterized as an altar of love. It is the kind of altar demanded by the Almighty—one signifying total devotion and possessiveness, yet a possessiveness that does not presume to object, judge, or criticize. You simply lay your most sacred offering upon it and await life’s response. If the sacrifice is accepted, you become a being filled with desire and longing. You become a being deserving of notice, of being heard and respected, because you are endowed with enduring values.

Desires cannot be concealed, and the yearning for life even less so. Yet, there are those who attempt to do just that. Naturally, their success is hollow—a sham. Creators—writers and artists—have no right to such an attempt; they cannot lay another head or another destiny upon the altar—only their own. It bears repeating: that is why we respect both them and their works.

There are many examples of this in Lili Boshevska’s poetry collection. She herself lays herself upon the altar of love and submits to the act of destiny. We find examples of this in the poems within her collection. Let us begin with the poem “Early Riser”: “I never wake up early / I give the sun precedence / to decide whether to shine. / I give the birds time / to tune their voices. / I give the wind space / to choose a direction. / I give you, too, the chance / to think of me and this day.”

In the song “Flight to the Infinite,” Boshevska confirms our thesis through the lines: “You sent me your angel, / skillfully hid him amidst the colors, / and I… / pretended not to recognize him— / I was frightened by his magnitude. / ‘He will take me away,’ I told myself, ‘far from this earthbound world.’ / You transformed me into an angel, too, /…”

In the poem “Inhalation,” Boshevska affirms her yearning for life—or rather, her decision to surrender herself to her beloved—through the lines: “This is not a kiss, / this is a hunger for your being. / I want to feed on your patience, / …I want to hunger for you. / Sate me with your outpourings, / Feed me with your being.” He is the embodiment of her desire, of her deepest longing for life.

The poem “Knight” speaks best to this: With you, life gains meaning… Protect me with your strength—stronger than the ocean waters, brighter than the light of truth, firmer than the stone of patience. I am happy within your shelter. Your calmness soothes me…

The verses Boshevska lays upon the altar of love—like a destiny waiting to be embraced as her offering—deserve our respect as works that serve as significant tributaries to the sea of ​​poetry.